Abbott government plays down impact on Victorian poll

Latika Bourke

Prime Minister Tony Abbott heads into the final parliamentary week spruiking the government's first year in office despite the conservatives' loss of government in Victoria and continuing uncertainty about the future of the $7 GP fee.

In a statement on Sunday Mr Abbott described 2014 as a "year of achievement" and said "we have all the reason to be confident in 2015," as he boasted of his successes in stopping the boats and repealing the carbon and mining taxes.

But federal Liberals, including Cabinet Minister Scott Morrison conceded the government needed to do a better job at "managing the politics" as the blame game continued about just how much of a role Mr Abbott had in the Victorian Liberal's historic defeat on the weekend.

The Victorian loss capped off a horror week which saw the government send out conflicting messages about whether the co-payment is scrapped or not. The measure is destined for failure in the Parliament and the Health Minister Peter Dutton has flagged alternative ways of trying to incorporate a so-called "price signal" into the Medicare system. Late on Sunday, ministers and MPs were asking journalists to tell them of the government's policy because they had no clue themselves.

Labor Leader Bill Shorten said that while state issues were "front and centre of the election", Mr Abbott himself was a significant factor, especially his key policies, including the increased fuel tax announced in the middle of the state campaign and the proposed $7 GP fee.

Mr Abbott vowed to work with the incoming government as well as pledging to see the East West Link Toll Road completed despite Victorian Labor's threat to tear up the contracts. He congratulated Premier-elect Dan Andrews and paid tribute to the outgoing Premier Denis Napthine as a man of "integrity and decency" who he said left Victoria in a better place.

Advertisement

Federal cabinet ministers played down the Commonwealth's influence but Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said that while the government's policy successes were strong, "we need to work harder on the politics and managing the politics".

Mr Morrison hit out at Mr Shorten's "cockiness" in trying to claim credit for the state Labor win and said it was "overreaching" to suggest it was any sort of referendum on the federal leaders.

You will now receive updates fromBreaking News Alert

Breaking News Alert

The federal Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester said the government's decision to raise the fuel tax mid-way through the state campaign "wasn't helpful to the Victorian Coalition" but he believed the Commonwealth couldn't be blamed for the state defeat.

"I'm under no illusions that the federal government's tough decisions on the federal budget played into the Victorian election but it is childishly simplistic to blame Tony Abbott for everything that went wrong in Victoria," he told Fairfax Media.

Mr Chester said the Napthine government had failed to explain its funding reductions to TAFE and the Geoff Shaw saga had mired state politics in chaos and dysfunction. But he said there were lessons to be learned from the state result.

"The first thing that needs to change is governments need to stop spinning and start clearly explaining their policies to the Australian people and trust in them to understand why tough decisions need to be made," he said.

Victorian senator Scott Ryan said the federal government played a role but was not the deciding factor.

"While state or federal issues have some impact on elections at the other level, it isn't ever decisive. It wasn't decisive or even the major factor in Victoria," he said.